Gay Men Swarm to See ’Magic Mike’

The New York Times recently reported that gay men across the country are flocking to movie theaters to watch the buff studs in "Magic Mike" strip down.

Although the film has no gay cast members or a gay storyline, it hasn't stopped gay men from hitting up theaters to see the Steven Soderbergh directed movie, starring the hunky Channing Tatum, who has been upfront about being a stripper in the past.

"It's a fun night out with a bunch of gay friends to go see a movie about hot boys," Aaron Rhyne, 32, a theatrical projection designer who saw the movie with several friends, told the Times.

"We've been throwing the trailer around, laughing about it."

The newspaper points out that gay men haven’t been this enamored with a movie since 2005’s "Brokeback Mountain" -- a film that actually has a gay theme and deals with forbidden love.

Bill Venne, 49, from Minneapolis saw "Magic Mike" with 16 gay men and one straight woman.

"Let’s be honest: it’s men taking their clothes off," he told the Times.

"It’s the kind of thing you want to see, but not by yourself. A middle-aged gay guy in the audience might as well be wearing a trench coat."

But it’s no secret the picture has been marketed towards gay men. Tatum, 32, who is also one of the movie’s producers, was on the cover of "Out" magazine and it has been promoted at a number of gay pride events last month, including the West Hollywood, Calif., parade, which even had a "Magic Mike" float.

Susan Kroll, president for worldwide marketing at Warner Brothers Pictures, said the studio began marketing the film to gay men after it was apparent that gay men had a significant interest in seeing "Magic Mike."

"Every single one of my gay friends was talking about how they couldn’t wait to see it and how gorgeous Matt Bomer is," she said. Bomer, who is openly gay, also stars in the movie.

"It wasn’t like we sat down and said, ’This was the target.’ But we handled it a bit more specifically and overtly for this movie."

She also told the Times that Tatum is "100 percent supportive" of the film’s gay following.

"A lot of actors who are at this point in their career might hesitate to make this movie," Kroll said. "They don’t want to mess with the broad appeal they have. But Channing’s taking off his clothes, talking about his past and supporting the movie. He’s confident in who he is."

According to the Associated Press, Tatum has also expressed interest in the possibility of turning "Magic Mike" into a musical.

The actor said he hasn’t "cracked what the actual show is" just yet but wants the musical to be "very interactive."

Comments

Anonymous, 2012-07-12 09:38:27

I lined up for it and was very dissapointed. The acting was terrible and the storyline predictable.

Dan C, 2012-07-13 21:44:55

Whaddya mean, "despite not having anything to do with gay men". Most of the Chippendales are gay and so is the lead actor of the movie. What could be more of a gay storyline than a movie about the Chippendales?

Will Noiles, 2012-07-13 23:52:15

The article starts off by stating it has no gay cast members and then later on refer to Matt Bomer, who is openly-gay and also stars in the picture. Which is it?

Channing Tatum took his experiences as stripper & turned them into a movie: "Magic Mike." Set in a Tampa strip club (called Xquisite), it is one of the most anticipated of the summer. EDGE spoke to the film’s hunks Tatum, Matt Bomer & Matthew McConaughey.